Abstract
The most fatal gynecologic malignancy, ovarian cancer, causes more than 50% deaths in this tumor group. Most of cases (>60%) are di- agnosed in advanced stages with poor 5-year survival prognosis.
Diagnostic tools for an effective early detection or screening have not been found yet. Treatment possibilities (surgery, chemotherapy) are insufficient while high tendency to recurrence and chemoresistance occurs.
CA125/MUC16 has been one of the most extensively used markers for a detection of primary tumors, or recurrence for a long time since its discovery in 80´s. However, the structure and biological functions of CA125 have been discovered relatively recently.
CA125 may play an important role in carcinogenesis and interactions with cells of immune system. We reviewed the known biological functions and particularly the current state of using this marker as the diagnostic tool in ovarian cancer.
Recently, many new markers emerged ambitiously to replace CA125; moreover, the importance of monitoring CA125 for the recurrence detection has also been questioned in large clinical trials. These studies have not found an impact for overall survival/mortality of patients.
Also a potential of using CA125 targeted antibodies has not brought previously expected results so far.